It’s Raining Coal in China’s Hangzhou

Environmental problems continue to trouble China, with the latest dusting of coal powder in the capital of Zhejiang Province.

A shower of black powder fell from the sky on the morning of March 10, near Banshan National Forest Park in Hangzhou, eastern China.

Once one of the most beautiful cities in China, the ancients used to refer to Hangzhou’s prosperity in the saying: “Just as there is paradise in heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth.” Today, however, the city cannot escape severe environmental pollution.

A local commenting online said that a thick layer of black ash covered pedestrians’ hair, as well as the ground and the trees. He uploaded some photos taken at the park, showing dark dust covering the ground, a statue, and trees in the park. A small white dog walking in the park also had black feet.

The Hangzhou resident blogged, “Touch your hair, and your hands turn black too. Some locals did not close their windows last night, and their homes suffered too.

Where is this mysterious coal dust coming from? The environmental protection agency has not provided any answers.”

Another local posted a photo showing black dust all over the floor of his home.

Other netizens made sarcastic remarks about the environmental deterioration in China, also mentioning the thousands of dead diseased pigs recently dumped in Shanghai’s Huangpu River, and the smog and sandstorms in Beijing.

“One must go out armed to the teeth now, as it can even rain coal; maybe one day it will rain petroleum,” wrote one Internet user.

A netizen with the moniker “Struggle and Bloom” joked: “Beijingers say, ‘We are proud as we have sand raining here.’ Tianjin people dismissed them, saying, ‘We have plastic bags raining here.’ But the people in Hangzhou are even more powerful: ‘We have coal raining here.’ And Shanghai people laughed: ‘We even have pigs raining here!’”

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